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THEOLOGY 3: Christian Morality Fr. Niño Perido, crs

Lesson 3: Justification and Sanctification

Why should we be good? Or to put it another way, what is the purpose of aligning our
moral choices with God’s plan? Do you do good things so that you can win the reward of
Heaven? Or is being good a result of putting your faith in Jesus? Maybe you’ve had discussions
on this question with someone who has asked whether you believe we are saved by our faith or
by our (good) works?

In past centuries these questions have been the cause of angry disagreement between
some Christians. Thankfully, ecumenical discussions in the last decades have resulted in greater
clarity about these questions and wider recognition of the truth that God has revealed. And
what has been revealed to us is this: we are saved through God’s work, not our own efforts.
Our primary goal in Christian morality is to collaborate with God’s grace, not to try to earn our
way into Heaven.

Justified by Faith in Christ Justification The

The process by which God’s grace frees us from sin and process by which God
sanctifies us (makes us holy) is called justification. Think of it frees us from sin and
this way: through our faith in Christ and the Sacrament of
Baptism, we become a new person, an adopted son or daughter sanctifies us.
of God who shares in Christ’s righteousness. Through Christ’s
Passion and the sanctifying grace received at Baptism, Original Sin Original justice The
is erased. Though the consequences of Original Sin remain, the state of complete
restoration of our original holiness and original justice—which harmony that our first
was lost through Original Sin—is made possible. Without the
separation caused by sin, harmony with ourselves, with God, and parents had with their
with one another is again possible. God grants us this wonderful inner self, with each
gift through Baptism because it is through our Baptism that we other, and with all of
unite ourselves to Christ’s Passion and share in his death and
Resurrection. creation.

Our justification begins and ends with God’s work. It starts Sanctify,
with conversion. Prompted by the grace of the Holy Spirit, we sanctification To make
realize that we need to turn to God and away from sin. We accept
God’s gifts of forgiveness and righteousness. As the process of something holy.
justification continues, we become increasingly freed from the Sanctification is the
tyranny of sin and healed from its effects. We become reconciled process of becoming
with God, and the desire to become more and more like him
grows inside us. Nourished by grace through celebrations of the closer to God and
Eucharist and the other Sacraments, we want our every decision growing in holiness,
to reflect what God desires. As the process of justification reaches taking on the
its end, we become sanctified, that is, we become a holy person, a
saint. Through sanctification we give glory to God here on earth; righteousness of Jesus
after our death we shall continue to give him glory in Heaven. Christ with the gift of
sanctifying grace.
Making these ideas a little more concrete might be helpful.
Consider the life of Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491–1556), the
Merit God’s reward to
founder of the Jesuit order. In his early life, Ignatius was
determined to become a distinguished nobleman, and he was not those who love him and
considered to be particularly religious. He enjoyed the pursuits of follow Christ’s Law of
young nobles: gambling, sword fighting, and chasing women. But
Love. To have merit is
at the age of thirty, all his noble pursuits came to a halt when he
was struck by a cannonball and injured in both legs. This turned to be justified in the
out to be an occasion for a special grace in his life. sight of God, free from
During his long recuperation, Ignatius began reading about sin and sanctified by
the life of Christ and the lives of the saints. Thus began his his grace. We do not
conversion. Ignatius came to believe that modeling one’s life on
earn merit on our own;
the example of Christ was a worthy goal and eventually became
convinced that such a life would be more satisfying than life in a it is a free gift from
royal court. He repented of his previous sins and was determined God due to the grace of
to change. A series of fortunate events led him to spend ten months living in simple
circumstances while praying and studying the spiritual life. God had begun the process of
justification in Ignatius’s life. The rest of his life would be marked by the desire to discover
God’s will and to do it, despite numerous challenges and setbacks. Sanctified through the grace
of God, Ignatius achieved true holiness. He was declared a saint in 1622. You can find more
about the life of Saint Ignatius in a lives of the saints book or by asking a Jesuit priest or
brother about him.

God’s Work and Our Collaboration

The theological concept of merit is sometimes used to describe our standing in the eyes
of God. In general, “merit” refers to the compensation owed by a community or to a community
for the actions of its members. Merit can be a reward, or it can be a punishment. In the
theological sense, having merit means that God sees us as justified persons, free from sin and
sanctified by his grace. Or it can mean that God sees us in need of merit, that we have not
accepted his forgiveness and grace.

It should be clear from all you have learned so far that there is nothing that we can do
to earn merit in God’s sight. God just doesn’t need anything that we can give; everything that
we are and everything that we have is already a gift from God. God has taken the initiative by
freely choosing to share his love, his grace, and his forgiveness with us. God first initiates and
then we respond. If our response is the response of faith in Jesus Christ, we become
collaborators in God’s saving work. So the merit we have in the sight of God is first and
foremost God’s free gift to us and then, secondly, our acceptance of his gift and our
participation in his saving plan.

This brings us back to the original question: Why should we be good? We should be
good because that is how God made us. We should be good because God has given us a share
in his life and his love. We should be good because God has given us his grace to justify us and
sanctify us so that we can live in perfect communion with him and all the saints for all eternity.
Any other reasons, such as trying to impress others, trying to gain social status, or even to
trying to earn our way into Heaven, will eventually backfire on us because they put us at the
center of our moral choices rather than putting God at the center. ✞

Justification and Divinization

God reveals that it is possible for us to be a true image of him. Jesus teaches us this in
the Sermon on the Mount when he commands his disciples to “Be perfect, just as your
heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). And in addressing this question, Saint
Athanasius of Alexandria wrote, “The Son of God became man that we might become
god.” Eastern Catholics describe three stages in the process of justification:

1. The first stage is katharsis, or purification. In this stage we remove sin from
our lives so that we can focus on God.

2. The second stage is theoria, or illumination. In this stage we come to know and
experience what it means to be fully human through our communion with Jesus Christ.

3. The last stage of the process, theosis, comes from a Greek word meaning
“divinization.” As we put into perfect practice the teachings of Jesus Christ, we achieve
theosis. We become saints who are in the fullest communion with God that is possible in
this life.

Divinization is not something we can do on our own; it is possible only through the power
of God’s sanctifying grace imparted through the Sacrament of Baptism. Divinization will
be fully realized only with our own resurrection.

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Activity 3

Instructions: Answer the following questions based on your own understanding; and only on
the space provided. Pass only the activity sheet one week after receiving the module. God
bless!

1. Define justification.

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2. How do we gain merit in the sight of God?

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NAME: Course:

Activity 3

Instructions: Answer the following questions based on your own understanding; and only on
the space provided. Pass only the activity sheet one week after receiving the module. God
bless!

3. Define justification.

_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________

4. How do we gain merit in the sight of God?

_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________

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